::Birth

::concepts

Lambing: the mother licks the first lamb while giving birth to the second

Birth, also known as parturition, is the act or process of bearing or bringing forth offspring.<ref>"birth". OED Online. June 2013. Oxford University Press. Entry 19395 (accessed 30 August 2013).</ref> In mammals, the process is initiated by hormones which cause the muscular walls of the uterus to contract, expelling the fetus at a developmental stage when it is ready to feed and breathe. In some species the offspring is precocial and can move around almost immediately after birth but in others it is altricial and completely dependent on parenting. In marsupials, the fetus is born at a very immature stage after a short gestational period and develops further in its mother's pouch.

It is not only mammals that give birth. Some reptiles, amphibians, fish and invertebrates carry their developing young inside them. Some of these are ovoviviparous, with the eggs being hatched inside the mother's body, and others are viviparous, with the embryo developing inside her body, as in mammals.